When people look up "Gothic Lolita", most of the information that returns from a search is very basic. Here is a more in-depth look at popular styles.

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Steps

1

Achieve the look of a porcelain doll. Before you do your hair and makeup, remember that the essential look of Gothic Lolita is that of a porcelain doll, with flawless skin and perfect hair. These are surprisingly easy to come by. One day of the week (weekends are recommended since you can run around with goop on your head and not get funny looks every thirteen seconds) set up a 'spa' day.

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2

Apply a conditioning mask to your hair, either something from a beauty store or home-made mayonnaise (yes, really).

3

Comb the goop through your hair with a wide toothed comb, twist it up on top of your head, and put either a shower cap, plastic wrap, or a plastic shopping bag over it.

4

Massage a cleansing cream over your face (just grab a big bottle at the dollar store, the cheaper ones are usually more gentle anyhow), and let that sit for one minute. Rinse, and rub on an exfoliating scrub.

5

Set a big pot of water on the stove, let it come to a boil, take it off, and set it on a hot pad somewhere that you can sit comfortably bent over it.

6

Get a thick towel, hold your head above the bowl, and put the towel over your head. Stay like that for about 10 minutes, five if you have sensitive skin. (Do not remain so long that the steam hurts you.) Lift up the towel to let air in until the steam thins a little. If you have blackheads, take a tissue and gently rub them after you are done.

7

Take a face mask, depending on your skin type. Two good homemade kinds are 2 egg yolks with one tablespoon of olive oil (for dry skin) and one egg white whipped fluffy with one tablespoon of lemon juice (for acne prone skin). Let these sit for twenty minutes, then rinse with cool water. Follow the directions on the bottle if it is store bought.

8

Apply toner to a damp cotton ball and sweep over your face. Let dry, then splash your face with water, and massage your face with the facial lotion of your choice. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then press tissues to your face to remove the excess. On a daily basis, wash your face twice daily using a clean washcloth (hang it up to dry after you use it, and replace it every two days).

Get your hair trimmed. Split ends do not belong on a porcelain doll. The most popular style is long hair, with soft layers and fringe bangs. You could also leave out the layers, especially if you have straight hair. Wear your hair in a classic way that complements your face shape. Ask the person who cuts your hair if you have absolutely no idea about that.

11

Before you do your hair, fix your makeup. It's easier to apply makeup with your hair completely back and out of your face, which means a ponytail and headband. After you wash your face, rub facial lotion into your wet skin, and let dry. After five minutes, blot off the excess with tissues.

12

Create a natural base. You want a very natural look. You can forgo the wet-face-lotion bit, and add some foundation into your lotion. One tip that is really good if you don't need foundation is to take a powder based foundation in one shade lighter than your skin tone (anything else will look chalky) and apply it to your nose and the immediate area around it, forehead, and chin. Blend it outward with very clean fingers.

Move onto eyes. You're looking to get doll eyes, so precision counts big time. Take an angled brush, and dip it into black eyeshadow, or brown if you prefer. You could really do this with any color, but darker colors are best.

15

Tap off the excess, brace the arm of your writing hand with your other hand, gently stretch the lid so you have no slack, and apply. Put it just behind your upper lashes, getting wider towards the outside corner, and thinner to the inside.

16

Re-dip and tap, then apply a thin line to the outer quarter of your lower lid, again just below the lashes, and getting wider towards the outside. Re-dip, and extend the corner of the eyeshadow a few millimeters past the corner of your eye, no more than 5 if you want a natural look.

17

Blend out with clean fingertips. Don't bother stretching out your lid when doing this, because not stretching will produce little lines that mimic eyelashes. Next, curl your eyelashes with an eyelash curler. If you're of Asian ethnicity, try a heated curler, since you tend to have very straight lashes.

18

Apply clear mascara, let this dry for a minute or two, then black, or brown if you want. A tip for blondes - very dark brown or charcoal will make your eyes stand out more, not black. For everyone else, black will make your eyes stand out more.

19

Add color. If you want a little color, go for a matte baby pink or rose if you have warm skin, or lilac or blue if you have cool skin. To tell which you have, hold something gold and something silver next to your skin. If gold looks better, you have warm skin. If it's silver, you have cool. Just apply a thin layer before you apply eyeliner, in about the same areas, but past it a little on your lower lids, and further up everywhere.

20

Take a powder in the same color but darker, and sweep it into the crease of your lids. Blend.

21

Prepare the cheeks. Apply either no blush, or a pink that looks good next to your skin. If you aren't sure, go to a beauty shop.

Last but not least, fix the lips. Get a soft pink that looks good on your skin, and a lip liner that matches it. Brace your arm, and follow the line of your lips.

24

Apply the lipstick. Matte lipstick is recommended, and no gloss because the focus of your face should be your beautiful eyes. If you want a pouty look, take a light shade of shimmery eyeshadow that was recommended for your skin tone, and apply just a tiny bit to the middle of your lower lip. Voila!

25

Create the hair. There are many different styles that you can have your hair for Lolita, the most popular being:

Ringlet curls. A great option if you have hair that is long, or at least shoulder length. Easily created using a curling rod, you can have small, tight curls (best for shoulder length) or larger, looser curls (best for hair longer than shoulder length). This style looks brilliant with any type of headpiece as well.

Straight hair. This should only be done if you have the right cut. Healthy hair, with a fringe that comes above the eyes (your eyes should not be hidden whatsoever. You spent all that time making them big and doll-like, why would you hide them?) and chin length-or longer. If your hair is not naturally straight, use flat irons.

Plaits. A simple, yet adorable style which is great if you are really going for a childlike effect. Can be done as either one plait (pulled back, so it falls down your back), or two plaits (one at either side). Looks great on all hair lengths.

Pigtails. Appropriate for short hair to shoulder-length hair, as it looks cutest this way. This hairstyle looks great with hair-accessories rather than headpieces, such as bows and cute girly clips (but keep it to a minimum. This is Lolita, not Decora!)

26

If you are having trouble choosing a style, check out a few old Victorian pictures for inspiration.

27

Style the hair. Get a spritz bottle full of water, and evenly mist your hair. Comb it through, and add either a little bit of mousse or leave-in conditioner, mousse if you want volume, conditioner if you want sleekness. If you have curls, use a diffuser at this stage. A diffuser is a hair dryer attachment that flares at the outside edge, and has a little flat place inside. Again, ask a beauty store if you aren't sure.

28

Turn the dryer on low warm, and lower your hair until it's resting on the little cup. Every ten seconds or so, scrunch your hair in your hands. Dry the rest of your hair like this.

29

Mist with setting spray. For straight hair, either just brush when dry, or straighten with velvet covered plates. When you use rubber bands, get the fabric coated kind with no metal connection parts.

30

Add fragrance. Choose a perfume that is flowery, playful and light. Heavier scents are better suited to Aristocratic types.

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Tips

If you like liquid or pencil eyeliner, apply it the same way, then go over it in powder. The powder just sets it in place, so you won't end up with raccoon eyes.

As for headdresses, unless you see one that you really love, and think is just perfect, or you can't handle a pair of scissors, there is absolutely no reason to buy one. They are insanely easy to make. Here are three basic ones with endless possibilities.

If you aren't good at makeup, take a day to yourself, and practice. Practice really does make perfect.

Flower Headdresses. One very cute Gothic Lolita hair accessory is a flowered headdress; which is basically two flowers connected by strings of beads that wrap around the back of your head. The flowers are held in the hair with bun combs on either side of your face. If you aren’t sure what bun combs are, go into a beauty shop and ask.

Materials for this version of these are two of the same kind of fake flowers, one small, like an opening bud, one medium to very large; a hot glue gun; many small beads in a corresponding color; large beads in a corresponding color to the flowers; thin, stretchy cord; regular cord; two combs, one large, one small, in a corresponding color.

To make it, cut three pieces of regular cord at close but varying lengths. They should be sized according to the person’s neck length that will be wearing them. People with a very long neck and face can go ahead and let them touch their shoulders, people with short faces and short necks should shoot for just past the bottom of their ears. Likewise, if you have a long face, go for a bigger flower, if you have a short face, try a medium flower.

Knot the bottom of the cords; then string the beads in a pattern of smalls then a large. For example, 30 smalls then a large, and 20 smalls then a large, but you can really have fun with this. Do whatever pattern you like, or no pattern at all. It’s up to you.

Tie these together at the top, leaving enough of an end to be able to tie it to the elastic cording.

Cut three pieces of elastic cord, with the idea of soft swags against the back of the head.

Shoot for them to be loose enough to easily accommodate a bun without having to stretch. Bead the cords in the same pattern as the other strings, and then tie the swags together at both ends.

Tie the spray of beads to the swags, then hot glue the end where the two groups come together to the little knob of plastic on the back of the large flower. Let this dry, then glue the smaller flower to the other side of the swag, again, let dry. Make sure both flowers are facing in the same direction.

Next, take the large comb and hot glue it to the back of the large flower above the beads. When you glue it, be sure the comb curves away from the flower, and have it with the teeth pointing parallel to the bead swags. In order, you should have the flower, the beads, then the comb.

Repeat these instructions for gluing the small comb onto the small flower.

To wear it, hold one flower by the comb, press it to your head a few inches in front of where you want it, then slide it into place. Swing the other flower around the back of your head-being careful not to twist the beads around-then slide it into place.

Start with the big flower, since it’s easier not have to worry about the spray of beads when your maneuvering around the back of your head. Most people put their hair in wavy pigtails; then slide one flower on top of one pigtail; and the other flower on the bottom of the other pigtail. You could do this with your hair completely down, and the flowers askew.

Another cute way to wear this, especially if you have thick hair, is to put your hair in a bun on the back of your head, then slide the combs in on either side of it. Also, you can put your in Princess Leia buns on either side of your face, then do the pigtail bit. This is especially cute when paired with bun covers!

If you have very wide-set eyes, line the top of your eyes the same as I've said, but line the inner quarter of your lower lids, not the outer.

For a different look, try glitter or shimmer powder. Apply after eyeliner and mascara.

To line your lips, don't try modifying the shape unless you have a lot of practice and a steady hand. Don't do anything more exaggerated than the line just touching the edge of your lower lip, and don't modify your upper lip. No one can do this correctly aside from professionals. If you think your upper lip is too thin, cover the bottom of your lower lip with foundation, and line it just above the natural line.

Bun Covers. One classic hair accessory is hair buns. These are basically little pouches that you wear over buns, usually on either side of your head. They are extremely simple and easy to make.

For materials, you’ll need about a yard of a pretty fabric; two yards of ribbon to go with it; matching thread; ability to sew or use a sewing machine. To start, lay out the fabric and cut out circles with 11-inch diameters. If you have very long hair, you should try for 12, or maybe 13 inches (33.0 cm). Don’t try this style if your hair isn’t at least past your shoulder blades. Anything shorter wouldn’t really look good.

Take the circles, and make little snips about 5 millimeters long around the outside of the circles every inch or so. Sew these little flaps to the underside of the circles, so you can’t see the cut edges of the fabric.

Next, fold the edges over themselves, and sew them leaving enough room for the ribbon to slide around in, but not too much room.

Take the ribbon, and cut it in half. It works better if you use a rough ribbon, because the satiny ones like to untie themselves.

Cut a slit in the hem you just sewed, and feed the ribbon through.

One cute way to wear these, especially if you wear your hair wavy or curly, is to put your hair in pigtails, then loop the rubber bands around them making loose, messy buns, with the ends hanging out of the bottom. Tie on the bun covers, leaving the pieces of hair hanging out in little waves and curls! You could do the same thing with net if you want a more madam-ish look, just make one big one (about 15 inches), and grab a small flower to attach next to the bow!

Ribbon Headpieces. The epitome of Gothic Lolita, these are fairly easy to make and should take you twenty minutes at the most.

You will need fabric; matching thread; thin ribbon; about 5 feet of thick ribbon, preferably not the satiny kind since that comes easily undone; lace; an iron.

To make it, lay out your fabric, and cut out a 6 1/2 by 8 1/2 inch rectangle. Take the 61⁄2 inch (16.5 cm) side and put them together so the right side of the fabric is inside.

Pin these, and sew them so that you have an edge outside the seam of a quarter inch.

Take this to the ironing board, turn it right side out. The edges of fabric should be inside the little tube at this point.

When you are done, take the big ribbon and cut it in half. Take the edge of the ribbon, lay it on top of the fabric so that ribbon is on top of the seam with the seam being in the exact edge of the ribbon. Sew the end on, and repeat with the other side. Next, fold the end of the fabric into the tube, with a quarter inch of the fabric inside all around. Sew this in place, and repeat with the other side. Turn it over to the side with no seam, and put marks with chalk along the edge for every inch. Be sure you measure, because precision is important here. Take the thin ribbon, and sew the end onto one of the four corners. Then swing it down to the other side, and sew it to the second mark. Swing it back up, and sew to the third tick mark, down to the fourth, up to the fifth, and back down to the sixth. Cut the ribbon.

You should end up with something like this: /\/\/\.

Now repeat with the other marks.

You should get this: XXXXXX.

Now take the lace, and sew it to the outside.

Tie it on so that it is on the crown of your head behind your bangs, if you have them. The long ribbons hanging down tie under your chin, with the bow to one side of your jaw. There you have it! This looks best with your hair down, and you can make it as simple or complex as you want. Ever the fake flower fan, it's just crazy cute if you take two small flowers, one smaller than the other, and sew them to one side. Or one big flower. It's up to you!

Cute Bunchies. This is great for chin length hair.

Grab a section of hair from just behind your ear. You should be able to easily touch your thumb and forefinger together while holding it.

Tie the bunches back with a hair-band. Do the same to the other side of your head.

Get a 2 meter length of thick ribbon. The colour should match your outfit. Cut it in half and tie it in big, even bows so they sit on top of your bunches.

Spray your hair so it stays rigid.

Warnings

Follow the directions on everything. Some products have special warnings: read them carefully.

Don't use scrub if you have very bad acne! This will just inflame it even more, and could result in scarring.

If you are not good at makeup whatsoever, ask for help or get further instruction.

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